Philadelphia I-95 bridge collapse: Warning signs and potential lessons
University of Delaware
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Tag: National Infrastructure
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Philadelphia I-95 bridge collapse: Warning signs and potential lessons
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Debt ceiling blues. Find political experts on the debt negotiations and the presidential bids in the Politics channel
The House is on track Wednesday afternoon to begin considering a bipartisan plan to suspend the nation’s debt ceiling and limit spending, with the nation facing the risk of default if the debt ceiling is not raised by June 1st. The two parties remain deeply divided about how to rein in the federal deficit, with Democrats arguing wealthy Americans and businesses should pay more taxes while Republicans want spending cuts.
More contenders enter the Republican presidential nominees’ list with Gov. DeSantis and Sen. Tom Scott declaring their bids to run. Do they have enough support to take on the front-runner, former President Donald Trump?
Below are some of the latest expert pitches posted in the Politics channel.
-Virginia Tech
GW Experts on Ron DeSantis Presidential Campaign Launch
-George Washington University
University of West Florida Expert Available to Interview on the Debt Ceiling
-University of West Florida
-University of West Florida
University at Albany Experts Available to Discuss U.S. Debt Ceiling Crisis
-University at Albany, State University of New York
GW Experts on Tim Scott 2024 Presidential Campaign
-George Washington University
Social media expert discusses consequences of changes for TikTok, Twitter
-Virginia Tech
-University of West Florida
Media Availability: Experts to Comment on New Hampshire’s First-in-the-Nation Primary Status
-University of New Hampshire
-Virginia Tech
-Southern Methodist University
Politics Experts in the Expert Directory
Newswise
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Immigration experts on Title 42, analysis of immigration policies, and other migrant news in the Immigration Channel
Title 42, the United States pandemic rule that had been used to immediately deport hundreds of thousands of migrants who crossed the border illegally over the last three years, has expired. Those migrants will have the opportunity to apply for asylum. President Biden’s new rules to replace Title 42 are facing legal challenges. The US Homeland Security Department announced a rule to make it extremely difficult for anyone who travels through another country, like Mexico, to qualify for asylum. Border crossings have already risen sharply, as many migrants attempted to cross before the measure expired on Thursday night. Some have said they worry about tighter controls and uncertainty ahead. Immigration is once again a major focus of the media as we examine the humanitarian, political, and public health issues migrants must face.
Below are some of the latest headlines in the Immigration channel on Newswise.
Expert Commentary
Experts Available on Ending of Title 42
George Washington University Experts on End of Title 42
‘No one wins when immigrants cannot readily access healthcare’
URI professor discusses worsening child labor in the United States
Biden ‘between a rock and a hard place’ on immigration
American University Experts Available to Discuss President Biden’s Visit to U.S.-Mexico Border
Title 42 termination ‘overdue’, not ‘effective’ to manage migration
Research and Features
A study analyses racial discrimination in job recruitment in Europe
DACA has not had a negative impact on the U.S. job market
ASBMB cautions against drastic immigration fee increases
Study compares NGO communication around migration
Collaboration, support structures needed to address ‘polycrisis’ in the Americas
TTUHSC El Paso Faculty Teach Students While Caring for Migrants
Immigrants Report Declining Alcohol Use during First Two Years after Arriving in U.S.
How asylum seeker credibility is assessed by authorities
Training Individuals to Work in their Communities to Reduce Health Disparities
‘Regulation by reputation’: Rating program can help combat migrant abuse in the Gulf
Migration of academics: Economic development does not necessarily lead to brain drain
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected immigration?
Immigrants with Darker Skin Tones Perceive More Discrimination
Newswise
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The claim that U.S. temperatures are not trending upward is false
Fact Check By:
NewswiseTruthfulness: False
Claim:
Zero US warming in 18 years, per US Climate Reference Network temp stations. That’s no US warming despite 30% of total manmade CO2. Emissions-driven warming is a hoax.
Claim Publisher and Date: Steve Milloy on 2023-02-26
A tweet shared by thousands by Steve Milloy, founder of Junk Science and former member of the EPA transition team under the Trump Administration, says, “Zero US warming in 18 years, per US Climate Reference Network temp stations. That’s no US warming despite 30% of total manmade CO2.” This claim is similar to ones in the past where skeptics of human-caused climate change cherry-pick data (using a fraction of the data to prop up claims that are false globally) to suit their ideology. It is simply false to claim that data from the Climate Reference Network show no warming over the last 18 years. There is a warming trend. Even if it was true, the US represents only 1.9 % of the Earth’s surface. It’s hard to extrapolate much about global temperature change from an 18-year period in 2% of the globe.
According to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), nine of the top 10 warmest years on record for the contiguous 48 states have occurred since 1998, and 2012 and 2016 were the two warmest years on record. Some parts of the United States have experienced more warming than others. According to NOAA, the North, the West, and Alaska have seen temperatures increase the most, while some parts of the Southeast have experienced little change. This warming trend is consistent with the long-term trend of global warming, primarily driven by human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels that release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Chris Cappa, chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis has this to say…
As usual, Steve Milloy is contributing to a disinformation campaign about the reality and seriousness of climate change through selective cherry picking of information. He conveniently ignores the undeniable global trend in surface temperatures to mention only the continental US, which is only 2% of the total Earth surface area. He misleads the public here by spinning a tale that is the equivalent of someone living in Chicago and saying they don’t believe that hurricanes are real because they’ve never seen one. Milloy peddles this same nonsense year after year and refuses to engage with the actual science.
Note to Journalists/Editors: The expert quotes are free to use in your relevant articles on this topic. Please attribute them to their proper sources.
Newswise
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Fact-checking the reporting of the explosion in East Palestine, Ohio
Five days after a Norfolk Southern train carrying vinyl chloride derailed and exploded near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, crews ignited a controlled burn of toxic chemicals to prevent a much more dangerous explosion. Local residents of East Palestine, Ohio are wondering whether returning to the area is really safe. In a report from television station WXBN in Youngstown, Ohio, it was disclosed that additional toxic chemicals have been discovered in the area. A comment made by Sil Caggiano, a hazardous materials specialist, was included in the WXBN report. Caggiano said that “We basically nuked a town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open.” The quote has been shared by thousands on social media. Christopher M. Reddy, a Senior Scientist at the Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution cautions that this statement may be hyperbole.
“Do not let the ‘doom and gloom’ overwhelm you,” says Reddy. In response to the Caggiano’s “nuked a town” statement, Reddy says it is “totally irresponsible. A very different situation when perceived by the public.”
Reddy’s comment on the reporting of the incident:
I would caution that the outcomes and scenarios available on Wikipedia are often overgeneralized and lack nuance. I don’t wish to downplay this accident at all. Very different situation. It is very hard to predict the short and long-term impacts of any chemical release with great certainty, but I don’t foresee with the knowledge in hand, significant long-term impacts. All of these chemicals are relatively short-lived and unlikely to persist for many months, and they have a low affinity to bioaccumulate in human and animal tissue.”
Reddy recommends the following for local residents:
- Remain cautious
- Do not let the “doom and gloom” overwhelm you.
- Ask for the sampling plans. Have samples been collected? When? Where? What is the detection limit?
- Ask for laboratory results for the chemicals that were released and their breakdown products. (Key point—the actual chemicals.) I cannot speak for the level of analyses being performed, but these are complex measurements. Certainly not the equivalent of pH paper.
- Seek information from reputable sources.
Mark Jones, a retired industrial chemist has this to say…
The chemicals, now four, are all dangerous in multiple ways. They can be acutely toxic, chronically toxic and they are all flammable. The controlled burn takes flammable materials to more benign materials. In the case of vinyl chloride, a product of combustion is hydrochloric acid, itself dangerous but not flammable.
The comment about a “more dangerous explosion” is a bit misleading. There is a risk to those attempting to clean up the site if there is a reservoir of flammable material. Reducing that risk is one of the reasons to do a controlled burn. There are many ways to do a controlled burn and I don’t know exactly what was done here.
Two of the materials, vinyl chloride and isobutylene, are quite volatile. Isobutylene handles approximately like butane, the stuff in a lighter. It is a liquid under just a little bit of pressure. Release the pressure and it becomes a gas. Vinyl chloride is similar. When released, both become a gas. They should not persist on the site. They should be swept away in the air.
The other two materials, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether and ethylhexyl acrylate, are higher boiling liquids. Both are flammable. The controlled burn of these materials should destroy them and make only carbon dioxide and water.
Note to Journalists/Editors: The expert quotes are free to use in your relevant articles on this topic. Please attribute them to their proper sources.
Newswise
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Researchers propose new structures to harvest untapped source of freshwater
Newswise — An almost limitless supply of fresh water exists in the form of water vapor above Earth’s oceans, yet remains untapped, researchers said. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is the first to suggest an investment in new infrastructure capable of harvesting oceanic water vapor as a solution to limited supplies of fresh water in various locations around the world.
The study, led by civil and environmental engineering professor and Prairie Research Institute executive director Praveen Kumar, evaluated 14 water-stressed locations across the globe for the feasibility of a hypothetical structure capable of capturing water vapor from above the ocean and condensing it into fresh water – and do so in a manner that will remain feasible in the face of continued climate change.
Kumar, graduate student Afeefa Rahman and atmospheric sciences professor Francina Dominguez published their findings in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.
“Water scarcity is a global problem and hits close to home here in the U.S. regarding the sinking water levels in the Colorado River basin, which affects the whole Western U.S.,” Kumar said. “However, in subtropical regions, like the Western U.S., nearby oceans are continuously evaporating water because there is enough solar radiation due to the very little cloud coverage throughout the year.”
Previous wastewater recycling, cloud seeding and desalination techniques have met only limited success, the researchers said. Though deployed in some areas across the globe, desalination plants face sustainability issues because of the brine and heavy metal-laden wastewater produced – so much so that California has recently rejected measures to add new desalination plants.
“Eventually, we will need to find a way to increase the supply of fresh water as conservation and recycled water from existing sources, albeit essential, will not be sufficient to meet human needs. We think our newly proposed method can do that at large scales,” Kumar said.
The researchers performed atmospheric and economic analyses of the placement of hypothetical offshore structures 210 meters in width and 100 meters in height.
Through their analyses, the researchers concluded that capturing moisture over ocean surfaces is feasible for many water-stressed regions worldwide. The estimated water yield of the proposed structures could provide fresh water for large population centers in the subtropics.
One of the more robust projections of climate change is that dry regions will get drier, and wet areas will get wetter. “The current regions experiencing water scarcity will likely be even drier in the future, exacerbating the problem,” Dominguez said. “And unfortunately, people continue moving to water-limited areas, like the Southwestern U.S.”
However, this projection of increasingly arid conditions favors the new ocean vapor-harvesting technology.
“The climate projections show that the oceanic vapor flux will only increase over time, providing even more fresh water supply,” Rahman said. “So, the idea we are proposing will be feasible under climate change. This provides a much needed and effective approach for adaptation to climate change, particularly to vulnerable populations living in arid and semi-arid regions of the world.”
The researchers said one of the more elegant features of this proposed solution is that it works like the natural water cycle.
“The difference is that we can guide where the evaporated water from the ocean goes,” Dominguez said. “When Praveen approached me with this idea, we both wondered why nobody had thought about it before because it seemed like such an obvious solution. But it hasn’t been done before, and I think it is because researchers are so focused on land-based solutions – but our study shows other options do, in fact, exist.”
The researchers said this study opens the door for novel infrastructure investments that can effectively address the increasing global scarcity of fresh water.
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the Lovell Professorship in the department of civil and environmental engineering, The University Scholar Program and the National Science Foundation supported this research.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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Double trouble when 2 disasters strike electrical transmission infrastructure
Newswise — COLUMBUS, Ohio – One natural disaster can knock out electric service to millions. A new study suggests that back-to-back disasters could cause catastrophic damage, but the research also identifies new ways to monitor and maintain power grids.
Researchers at The Ohio State University have developed a machine learning model for predicting how susceptible overhead transmission lines are to damage when natural hazards like hurricanes or earthquakes happen in quick succession.
An essential facet of modern infrastructure, steel transmission towers help send electricity across long distances by keeping overhead power lines far off the ground. After severe damage, failures in these systems can disrupt networks across affected communities, taking anywhere from a few weeks to months to fix.
The study, published in the journal Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, uses simulations to analyze what effect prior damage has on the performance of these towers once a second hazard strikes. Their findings suggest that previous damage has a considerable impact on the fragility and reliability of these networks if it can’t be repaired before the second hazard hits, said Abdollah Shafieezadeh, co-author of the study and an associate professor of civil, environmental and geodetic engineering.
“Our work aims to answer if it’s possible to design and manage systems in a way that not only minimizes their initial damage but enables them to recover faster,” said Shafieezadeh.
The machine learning model not only found that a combination of an earthquake and hurricane could be particularly devastating to the electrical grid, but that the order of the disasters may make a difference. The researchers found that the probability of a tower collapse is much higher in the event of an earthquake followed by a hurricane than the probability of failure when the hurricane comes first and is followed by an earthquake.
That means while communities would certainly suffer some setbacks in the event that a hurricane precedes an earthquake, a situation wherein an earthquake precedes a hurricane could devastate a region’s power grid. Such conclusions are why Shafieezadeh’s research has large implications for disaster recovery efforts.
“When large-scale power grid systems are spread over large geographic areas, it’s not possible to carefully inspect every inch of them very carefully,” said Shafieezadeh. ”Predictive models can help engineers or organizations see which towers have the greatest probability of failure and quickly move to improve those issues in the field.”
After training the model for numerous scenarios, the team created “fragility models” that tested how the structures would hold up under different characteristics and intensities of natural threats. With the help of these simulations, researchers concluded that tower failures due to a single hazardous event were vastly different from the pattern of failures caused by multi-hazard events. The study noted that many of these failings occurred in the leg elements of the structure, a segment of the tower that helps bolt the structure to the ground and prevents collapse.
Overall, Shafieezadeh said his research shows a need to focus on re-evaluating the entire design philosophy of these networks. Yet to accomplish such a task, much more support from utilities and government agencies is needed.
“Our work would be greatly beneficial in creating new infrastructure regulations in the field,” Shafieezadeh said. “This along with our other research shows that we can substantially improve the entire system’s performance with the same amount of resources that we spend today, just by optimizing their allocation.”
This work was supported by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) and the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy of the Republic of Korea (MOTIE).
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Ohio State University
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